Here at THE VINYL DISTRICTwe're good consumers. All Mp3's are posted to promote and give exposure to the music and are linked for a limited time. Please download to preview, then head promptly to your local vinyl vendor (or - OK, CD store too) and fork over your hard earned cash. You'll appreciate the piece of mind.

Got something you think we should be listening to or reading? thevinyldistrict (at) gmail.com

Monday, January 5, 2009

Direct from the source: "THIS PAST WEEKEND COMMENCED OUR 2nd ANNUAL "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE". To Commemorate the occasion ALL THE LPS THAT WE WERE SELLING FOR ONE DOLLAR WILL BE 2 FOR A DOLLAR. We'll next be open January 9 & 10, our most recent "final days". MUSIC ALERTS: On Friday January 9 "BOX" will play an acoustic set at 7 PM, come check them out... Then on January 10, 2009 "OUR LAST HURRAH!" A Live Performance to Benefit next Fall's (2009) SONIC CIRCUITS Festival, at 7PM on Saturday, Orpheus is proud to present Blue Sausage Infant (alias Chester Hawkins) and a one-shot reunion of legendary DC noise/troublemakers NEW CARROLLTON!. Each attendee who donates the suggested donation amount of $5 will receive 10 FREE Lps valued at half a dollar. So come on down and watch great live music and cash in on some great LP bargains! The new release & re-issue lps that have never been part of the sale are on display, still FULL PRICE. MOST OTHER LPS IN THE STORE ARE 2 FOR ONE DOLLAR. THAT MEANS: if the sticker says it's 99 cents it's 2 for a dollar, if the sticker says it's $9.99, it's 2 for a dollar, if the sticker says it's $29.99 or even more (not likely) it's still 2 for a dollar. Come on in, stack 'em up and buy as much as you can afford, or more, 2 for ONE DOLLAR. Please bring boxes if you need them, we're out. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to those of you who continue to watch this site AND come in to help me divert all this vinyl from my house to yours..."

So, over the hyper-extended break taken here at TVD, there was plenty o' time spent at the neighborhood haunt, the Fox and Hounds. One evening sitting in front of the big window under the neon sign looking out over the patio, my pal John and I got involved in a conversation about graphic design. John's a web design/development instructor at the Corcoran and at Catholic U., and as an Art Director in my 9-5 guise, he had a few questions for me about what I look for in a junior designer's portfolio.

The timing was good for this conversation too as I had hired a very talented junior designer just about a year ago after reviewing literally hundreds of portfolio submissions, at first via an ad posted on craig's list then afterward in person during interviews.

The thing that struck me then that resonated in our conversation was that student and beginning designer's portfolios seem to just lack the basic fundamentals--super solid typography, type and image cohesion, individual flair, and a communications capability. Most seem to be extended classroom exercises at best and very basic stabs at 'just doing it'. Which I understand really...I was there starting from nothing and hoping for the best. Most troubling ultimately though was a basic lack of executing the fundamentals in a professional portfolio...which IS supposed to be your best stuff on display, right?

What seemed to dilute the talent pool we surmised was the computer. We've all got one and with the help of a little design software we're all 'designers' with or without formal instruction or innate talent. Some can get there, some can get close, and it's pretty easy to tell who's got it and who doesn't. The computer seems to say 'yes, you are' as opposed to 'you just haven't earned it yet, baby.'

No surprise then that he topic turned to music and the parallel that can be drawn with the aforementioned. The computer INDEED seems to say 'yes, you are' as opposed to 'you just haven't earned it yet, baby' YET all these young shavers have their on-line MUSIC portfolios on-display, via Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or any other shortcut subsequently made worse by the plethora of bloggers (ding!) in search of content who, in the end, champion acts that barely merit the title of 'beginner.'

I've seen it over and over again the past year exacerbated by the thin talent base that became the fodder for 'Top Ten Lists' in vogue at the end of December. I hesitate to point fingers or name names cuz we're all sweet this a-way...but catch me at happy hour and you can bet your tits I'll have names and nausea to spare.

So in the coming year, JUST the good shit. Only the acts that somehow have got it (or HAD it) and none of the Gang of Four copyists in reverso skinny jeans and ironic hippy beards peddling half-formed or worse, ill-formed compositions on shiny young auto-tuned kids. Unless they KILL of course. (Our tent is big enough.)

This by the way places a heavy burden on our 'First Date' series which returns full-throttle in '09. Our 'Daily Wax' becomes the 'Weekly Wax' as we veer more toward the artists as opposed to singular releases. FINALLY I plan to get to the hundreds of LP's added to the TVD shelves over the course of '08 that will become our 'From The Vaults' series or something similarly named.

We've got vinyl LP giveaways already lined up and there will be plenty more than last year. We've got ticket giveaways already lined up and there will be plenty more than last year. We're ramping up our overall vinyl news coverage. AND we have our exclusive Record Store Day 2009 news and updates...so, we anticipate a major bit of blogging over the course of the year. Your continued indulgence is warmly appreciated.

...which brings me to the very first artist this year and the individual I listened to above all others last year: Adrian Borland and more specifically his band, The Sound.

I've rambled on a bit for one day, so go forward and download the following five from The Sound's live 2-LP set, "In The Hothouse." Close your eyes and imagine this band taking the stage at oh, The Black Cat or The R&R Hotel with this level of energy and passion and song-craft and ask yourselves why we're settling for...oh, ...wait.

What to do with all of those email alerts we get that we simply can't do justice throughout the week? Why, it's condense them right here in our new weekly bulletin board, 'plugs.'

We don't care where you are or what city you're in--if you've got something you wanna promote or think we should be listening to or seeing or reading, this is the place to put it. Got a band? A photo exhibit? DJing some place? A good cause worth promoting? This is the spot for it. (And if you've checked that little widget waaay down there bottom left, this is a global forum, indeed.)

We'll be posting what lands in our in-box right here daily as well as welcoming your tips, and we'll be refreshing it once a week to stay on top of what we're both up to.

So, clue us in right here in the comments section to these posts. Weekly.